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Friday, July 4, 2014

Trafficker would woo women in Bengal to sell them in Mumbai

A 23-year-old man, who wooed impressionable teenagers and sold them after luring them to Mumbai, has finally been arrested by the Crime Branch. He was nabbed after trafficking a 15-year-old girl from West Bengal, after courting her and promising to marry her. Once in the city, he sold her off for Rs 25,000.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Ajijool Sirajul Lashkar (23) arrived in Mumbai with the minor girl and was living with her. The girl was a resident in the jurisdiction of the Baharipur police station in West Bengal. An officer from Unit XI of Crime Branch said, “We got a tip-off that a woman was going to be sold soon.

On the basis of that information, we picked up a middleman who wasn’t involved directly in the deal, but knew about it. The man told us that the accused would be bringing the girl to the city soon.”

“Lashkar soon arrived in Ghatkopar with the minor, and called up the middleman, who immediately informed us. After this, we laid a trap and arrested him on June 26,” the officer said, adding, “Interrogations revealed that the accused had come to the city on multiple occasions before, to negotiate the deal to sell the 15-year-old minor girl.

After she went missing, the victim’s parents registered a case of kidnapping with the Baharipur police station in West Bengal. In the past, Lashkar has lured four girls to the city and sold them.” All four girls are still missing.

Modus operandi
In each instance of trafficking, Lashkar wooed his victims till they fell in love with him. He promised to marry them and settle in Mumbai. Once the unsuspecting victim set foot in the city, she would be sold off. As soon as the deed was done, Lashkar would slip out of the city.

A team consisting of Senior Police Inspector Avinash Sawant, Police Sub-inspectors Hitendra Vichare, Sharad Jhinhe and constables Deepak Jadhav and Santosh Desai arrested Lashkar, who was later handed over to the Baharipur police in West Bengal.

An officer said, “The accused has been handed over to the local police in West Bengal, who are now investigating the matter. In his statement to us, Lashkar said that the other four girls that he sold in Mumbai had also been brought from West Bengal.” Lashkar has been booked under sections of the IPC for kidnapping, rape and human trafficking.